Introduction: Algiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria and the second largest of the Maghreb after Casablanca. A recent UN estimate of the urban agglomeration (metropolitan area) puts the population at 3,354,000 as of 2007. Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea. The city name is derived (via French Alger and Catalan Alguère) from the Arabic word al-jazā’ir, which translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the casbah or citadel, 400 feet (122 m) above the sea. The casbah and the two quays form a triangle.
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